New Delhi— Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8:30 pm tonight, a day after a government-backed Bill proposing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha failed to pass in the Lower House.
The Prime Minister, who remained silent in Parliament following the Bill’s defeat, is expected to outline the government’s position and respond to the political developments surrounding the issue.
The Bill’s rejection triggered sharp exchanges between the ruling BJP-led NDA and the Opposition, particularly the Congress and its allies. Leading the government’s charge during the debate, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Opposition of derailing a long-pending reform by introducing “needless ifs and buts.” He said the repeated failure to pass the women’s quota over the past three decades would have political consequences, warning that voters, especially women, would respond in upcoming elections.
Senior BJP leader and former law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also criticised the Congress, questioning its proposal to implement reservation within the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats without undertaking delimitation. He argued that any revision in seat allocation must follow constitutional procedures and reflect current population data, not the 1971 census on which the present seat structure is based.
Responding to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s suggestion of implementing reservation within the current framework, Prasad maintained that such a move would be constitutionally untenable. He further cautioned that any attempt to readjust seats without proper delimitation could disproportionately impact southern states, potentially reducing their representation.
Former Union minister Smriti Irani also attacked the Congress, accusing it of repeatedly obstructing efforts to implement women’s reservation. She said the Opposition’s stance reflected a lack of commitment to empowering women at the grassroots level.
The failure of the Bill has once again brought the decades-old debate on women’s political representation to the forefront, with the Prime Minister’s address now expected to set the tone for the government’s next steps on the issue.
